Bumper device



July 6, 1937, s. A. TAFF BUMPER DEVICE Filed Aug. 20, 19:6

GEO13GE A. TAPE Patented July 6, 1937 f UNITED STATES:-

fzteesse B MPER. DEVICE I 1 r Georges. ratrlcolor a spr n s, Colo. I e e r Application August 20, 1936, Serial .No. 96,987 a a v Claims. (011293-55),

standing the rather prevalent use of bumperguards to insure against such interlocking of 10 bumpers. Furthermore, when two bumpers do become interlocked, the task 'of separating them is oftentimes rendered more difflcult because of the shape and design of the bumper guards. The types of bumper guards more generally' in use are provided with rather pointed extremities that are hard to extricate from another bumper with which they may become entangled. Quite often it is necessary to'jump upon, or otherwise apply considerable weight; to one of the interlocked bumpers in order to depress the same'and permit the other bumper to rise over the depressed bumper and thus free the two.

In accordance with the principles of thepresentinvention, my bumper guards are so constructed as to facilitate the freeing of interlocked bumpersby causing one bumper toride up over the other. This is accomplished by providing a rearwardly extending bowed portion that presents gently sloping surfaces leading to and protecting the ex-E tremities of the front fender member of the guard. Thus, when a bumper or other object comes into contact with such slopingjsurfaces, there is a tendency, during the attempt to separate from such other bumper. or object; for the bumper or object to ride along these sloping surfaces and pass clear of the extremitiesof the front fender member.' The sloping surfaces act as cams to free interlocking bumpers from each other or to free a bumper from have run.

It is therefore an important object of this in vention to provide an improved construction of bumper guard wherein a rear portion thereof is a curb over which it may provided with gradually sloping surfaces tending 45 to cause objects in contact therewith to ride there- .Over free of the extremities of member of the guard.

It is a further important object of this inventionto provide a' bumper guard adapted to be 50 clampingly held upon a bumpermember bysebumper member and therefore do not weaken the same.

It is a further importantobject of this invention to provide a bumper guard wherein a from Figure 1 lea-fragmentary front elevational view -As shown onthedrawingf *The reference numeral I 0 indicates a horizontal the front fender fender member and a rear memberare adapted.

to be clampingly heldupon a horizontal bumper member in'vertical position,- and the rear member isprovided' with a bowed portion presenting grad 'ually sloping surfaces extending to the ejxt'remities of the front fendermember-to protect the same and to facilitate disengagement of the 'bumper with another bumper or the like. i v v Other and'further important objects of this invention will be apparent. from the disclosures in the specification and the accompanying d'ra'wf This invention (in 4 trat'ed'inf the drawing and hereinafter-more fully described: g 0n the drawing of-a'bumper provided with a bumper guard embodyingthe principles'of thisinventionr' Figure 2 is a top plan fragmentary view of the same.

' Figure 3 an. enlargedsectional view taken in elevation.

Figure 411s aside elevational view of'a modified form of bumper guard,- showing the bumper l roper' in cross section. e

' Figure 5 is a'side elevational view of afurther modification of my invention; with the bumper proper'shown in "section.

bumper bar, buffer or the like,such as is com- I monly used on automotive vehicles t o protect the I front and rear thereof against collision. A bumper guard ll ,'embodying the p'rinciplesof my invention; is adapted to be mounted in vertical position upon the bumperor-bufier l0, two. such bumper guards being'usually mounted uponeach bumper l0 iiipaced relation.

The bumper guard-ll f the 'preferred constructionshown in, Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive-comprises a front fender portion l2 having a pair of spaced apertures [3 for receiving belts "or other suitable securing means; The fender member H, V

which-will generally" be formed of-steel, has a front face that- 1s rounded toward the edges'and that tapers rearwardly, as at l5 and I6, toward the upper and lower extremities, H and I8, re-

spectively. The marine of the fender member curing means that do not pass through the a preferred'f'orm) ie-nmsf substantially on the line l JI--IlIof Fig.1 1; partly. v

I2 has anintermediateportion I19 that conforms to the faced the bumper l0 and has end portions 20 and jII that slope slightly backwardly toward 2 1 amass cross section, although may be rounded along their edgesto present a pleasing appearance.

A rear member 22 is adapted to be secured to said front member l2 bymeans of the bolts I4 when mounted upon the bumper l3. Said rear In-;as'sembled relation, "the ends 23 and 2.1 are substantially fiushwith the extremities l1 and- 1 l3, respectively, of the front fender member, to

protect the same against engagement with objects coming into contact with the bowed or arcuate portion- 23.,

The bolts l4 are provided with flatly rounded heads 23 and with squared'shank portions 23 adapted to be fitted into similarly squaredportions of the apertures I3 to hold said bolts against rotation. Bock washers 3'0 and nuts 3| are provided for the threaded ends of thebolts projecting beyond the legs 24 and 25 through which said bolts extend. The spacing of the apertures l3 in the front fender, member I2 is such that the bolts l4 do not pass through the bumper It! but clear the top and bottomv edges of said bumperby a-slight distance. The fender member l2 and rear member 22 are thus clampi'ngly held together on the bumper 13 with a portion of said bumper I3 secured between the legs 24 and 25 and the conforming portion IQ of the front, fender member. f It will benoted that when the nuts 3| are tightened up on the bolts l4, considerable clamping action can be developed due to the general concavity of the rear face of the fender mem ber produced by the rearwardly sloping portions '23 and 2i.

Consequently, theextremities l1 and i3 of the front fender member are'held tightly against the ends 23 and 21 of the rear member to lie substantially flush therewith and to afford no projection that might tend to engage with some foreign object. v e

The result is that if another bumper, such as that indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 by the reference numeral 33, should accidentally get behind the bumper onto the bowed portion .23

of the guard ll, said bumper 33 would tend to rideup along the -graduallyisloping surface of said bowed portion 23 during movement tending l1 upon continued relative movement of the 'two' bumpers. In a similar way, if the bumper III were caused to ride up over a'curb 34, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, a reverse movement of the bumper relative to thecurb would tend to --fcause the bowed portion' 23 tolift the bumper I3 .up over the curb to free the same therefrom. As shown-in Fig. 4, the rear portion 35 of the bumper guard 33 may be provided with plane sloping portions 31 and 33 extending to the ex- 1 .tremities 39 and, 43 of the front fender'member 4|. The camming action of the sloping portions 31 and 33 is similar to that of the circular areshaped portion of the bowed member 23 of the, a

bumper guard l I previously described,

As shown in Fig. 4, the bumper 42 may present curved front and rear faces and the front fender -member 4| maybe provided with a conforming surface portion 43. The legs 44 and 45 of the rearmember 35 overlie and conform to portions ofsaid bumper 42. Bolts 43, which may be fixedly secured in the rear face of the fender member 4| extend through said legs 44 and 45 clear engagement upon the bumper 55.

of the bumper 42 and in conjunction with nuts '41 serve to hold said fender 4i and rear member 35 clamped upon the bumper 42.

In Fig. 5 the rear member 43 is parabolically curved to provide gradually sloping portions 43 and 53 extending to the extremities 5| and 52, respectively, of the front fender member 53. Said front'fender member 53 is provided with an 53 through the legs 53 and 51 and nuts 53 are threaded on the bolt ends to hold the fender member 53 and the rear member. inclamping It 'will'thus be seen that all ofthe various fo of my invention provide rear bumper guard members that present gradually sloping surfaces toward the extremities of the front fender member to cause foreign objects, such as the bumper ofanother car, to ride thereover clear of the extremities of the front fenders during the movement tending to separate the same. This is an important feature of my invention, since it tends to facilitate the disengagement of bumpers that may become locked together upon two cars colliding with each other. Considerable trouble and unnecessary delay are'thus avoided and the act of separation becomes almost an automatic one due to the'camming action of the bumper guards ofmy invention.

I am, aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction may be 'variedthrough a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I, therefore,

' member having tapered ends, a rear member hav- ,do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereing a rearwardly bowed portion and inturned ends, and means passing through said inturned ends forsecuring said members together with said tapered ends held tightly. against said rear member and protected thereby against engagement from the rear thereof with foreign objects. 2. A bumper guard for mounting in vertical position on a bumper, comprising a front fender member having a concave rear face, a rear mem- 'ber having a rearwardly bowed portion and legs extending toward each other from the ends of therebetween and clear of said securing means, the ends of said bowed portion being substantially flush with the ends of said fender member and said latter ends being held tightly against said plane faces. p

3. A bumper guard for mounting in vertical position on a bumper, comprising a front fender member, a rear member having a rearwardly bowed portion and legs extending toward each other from the ends of said bowed portion, and

,means, extending from said fender member through said legs to clampingly secure said members together on abumper with the bumper therebetween and clear of said securing means, the ends of'said bowed portion being substantially flush with the ends of said fender member and said latter ends being held tightly against said less.

said bowed portion to provide plane faces, and 1 means extending from said fender memberthrough said legs to elampingly secure said members together on a bumper with the bumper 4. A bumper guard for mounting in'vertical position on a bumper, comprising a front fender member, a rear member having a rearwardly parabolically bowed portion and legs extending toward each other from the ends of said bowed portion, and bolts extending from said fender member through said legs to clampingly secure said members together on a bumper with the bumper therebetween and clear of said bolts, the ends of said bowed portion being substantially flush with the ends of said fender member and said latter ends being held tightly against said legs.

5. A bumper guard comprising a front fender member having a convex front face and a rear face having a portion adapted to conform to the contour of the bumper, a rear member having legs adapted to overlie the rear face of said bumper and having a rearwardly bowed portion sloping gradually toward the ends of said front fender member to protect the same, and means for clampingly securing said members together upon the bumper with a portion of said bumper therebetween.

6. A bumper guard comprising a front fender member having a convex front face and a rear face having a portion adapted to conform to the contour of the bumper, a rear member having legs adapted to overlie the rear face of said bumper and having a rearwardiy bowed portion sloping gradually toward the ends of said front fender member to protect the same, and means for clampingly securing said members together upon the bumper with a portion of said bumper therebetween, saidsecuring means passing clear of said bumper portion.

'1. A bumper guard for mounting in vertical position on a bumper, comprising front and rear 1 members adapted to be ciampingly secured on saidbumper with the bumper therebetween, the upper and lower surfaces of said rear member converging rearwardly from the extremities of said front member at angles with the horizontal respectively less than forty-five degrees whereby 45 to provide gradual inclines for the guiding outiects contacting said incline rearwardly of the bumper.

s. A guard structure for the horisontal impact bar of an automobile bumper, said structure comprising front and rear members extending transversely, of the impact bar and secured together to clamp the bar between them,'the upper and lower surfaces of said rear member sloping rearwardly from the extremities of said front member to the horizontal planes of the upper and lower edges of said hnpact bar, said slope being sufliciently gradual to enable said surfaces to function as cams to gradually wedge out of interlock another automobile bumper bar interlocked with said bumper bar during relative horizontal movement of said bars toward each other.

9. A guard for the horizontal impact bars of automobile bumper structures. said guard comprising front and rear members extending transversely of the impact bar and clamped against the opposite sides thereof, the upper and lower surfaces of said rear -member inclining rear-' wardly from the extremities of the front memher with the angle of incline of the surfaces between the extremities of the front member and the horizontal plane of the upper and lower edges of the impact bar being less than forty- 3' f wardly as the mat member extremities of obfive degrees whereby to provide gradual inclines capable of functioning as cams to free interlocked bumper bars from each other as the cars on which the bumper bars are mounted pull away from each other.

10. A guard structure for the horizontal impact bars of automobile bumpers, said structure comprising front and rear members extendingtransversely of the impact bar and secured together to clamp the bar between them, said rear member being substantially'wedge shaped with its upper and lower surfaces sumciently gradually inclined to enable said member to function as a wedge to wedge apart interlocked bumpers as cars on which the bumpers are mounted are moved apart.

' GEORGE A. TAPE. 

